THE BASIS POINT

Thanksgiving IQ Test

 

I’ve always been able to outperform and outlast most throughout my career, but I’ve never been a good test taker, so when it comes to licensing and other tests, I’m always nervous.

But my test anxiety was less than normal the past couple days when I was cramming in my annual continuing education into my daily routine. I felt like the first guy in this 26-second Idiocracy clip when I normally feel like the third guy.

For those who don’t know, Idiocracy was done by Silicon Valley and Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge and is about how the army conducts an experiment with a totally average Joe—named Joe of course—where they freeze him to see if hibernation works, and if so, they can preserve America’s best soldiers for when they need them most. But the experiment goes hilariously wrong, they forget about him, and he wakes up 500 years in the future where society is so dumbed down, that he’s the smartest man alive.

This scene is after he’s been arrested and is getting an IQ test to determine his jail job. But because he crushes this IQ test, he’s invited to join the presidential cabinet and “fix everything” that’s gone wrong.

I pulled this clip yesterday because many questions I was working on seemed like the “how many buckets” question in the Idiocracy IQ test. I don’t know if it’s because I’m just familiar with this material, or I’m getting better. Given what I know about myself, I’d say it’s the former.

Either way it felt good to crush granular questions about arcane consumer finance law, and clear the decks before today’s holiday.

That way I can focus on raising my Thanksgiving IQ by being totally present and totally grateful for all the family, friends, and colleagues that make my life what it is. Life is no less tough this year than it’s always been, but I feel stronger this year than I have in a long time, and I know for sure it’s because I’ve made a conscious daily effort to outwardly acknowledge a few things I’m grateful for every day—even if they’re really small, like the ability to take a few minutes to write a ‘grateful’ blog post. It’s made me a better family member, friend, and colleague, and on this day of thanks, I vow to keep my grateful buckets full.

P.S., I know you have a ton of catch-up TV on your list, but if you haven’t seen this movie, you really need to.

 

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